County is called court ‘hellhole’

A Washington-based nonprofit is calling Clark County one of the most unfair civil court jurisdictions in the nation and says the courthouse in Las Vegas is attracting personal injury lawyers merely looking to get rich.

The American Tort Reform Association for the first time is placing Clark County on its list of "Judicial Hellholes." It ranked the area fifth out of six. The first was South Florida and the last was Atlantic County, N.J.

"The shenanigans at the Clark County courts have finally reached a critical mass from our perspective," said Darren McKinney, spokesman for the group, which is dedicated to tort and liability reform. Its members include small and large companies and trade and business associations, among others.

Co-founded in 1986 by the American Medical Association and the American Council of Engineering Companies, it generally supports limiting the liabilities companies and some professionals may face.

For the 2007 Judicial Hellholes report, the group cited the 2006 Los Angeles Times series "They're Playing With a Stacked Judicial Deck," which reported that some Clark County judges had ruled in favor of attorneys who contributed to their campaigns.

The report notes that one unnamed judge held a fundraiser for an event four days before a hearing. The judge's largest total contributions came from a personal injury lawyer and his firm who wound up with a case before the judge. The corporate defense attorney in the case hadn't contributed to the judge, the report stated.

The judge ordered the defendant to pay $1.5 million to the plaintiffs at the hearing, the report stated.

In a prepared statement, Chief District Judge Kathy Hardcastle called the report a "knee-jerk reaction to a series in the Los Angeles Times that contained many inaccuracies and generalities about former judges in Clark County."

Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara@reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-1039.